Monthly Archives: March 2014

For years we had a Deaf Bridge. It was the ZorrBridge in Kashmir, a small nation near India andPakistan. Zorr? Deaf? In Kashmir language Zorrmeans deaf, and that bridge was built duringthe 1940’s by a deaf contractor, whose name noone remembers! It was a wooden bridge, thathad been run down over the years because theKashmir government had no money to renovateit! Eventally the name Zorr Bridge was changedto Zero Bridge. It is no more, being dismantledand gone for good.

— dangerous sign gestures in our ASL

Are some signs dangerous in our own ASL when wecommunicate with the deaf? Not in USA, but possiblyoverseas (Europe, Asia, etc). The Yahoo web sitepointed out many gestures that Americans use thatare dangerous to use over there. In our own ASL,these dangerous signs are – perfect, two, hook,five, hope, hand applause and thumbs up. Why?These gesture signs are offensive to these peopleand they may think we are insulting them whileactually we weren’t!

— a big reason for calling deaf as deaf and dumb

There was a big story last week of a “deaf and dumb”note attached to the lost airport luggage that wasdelivered to a deaf couple’s home. The AmericanAirlines has since then apologized for it and sentthe note-writer to a sensitivity training class.Why did the baggage handler write that note? He isan immigrant, from a nation where it is normal andappropriate to call all deaf people as “deaf and dumb”!What is normal to these people is not normal to us.

A famous deaf athlete right now is Derrick Coleman, a member of the Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks team. He wears a hearing aid, and has endorsed a hearing aid battery brand. He also just signed a new endorsement deal with a big hearing aid company. Is it a hint for people, undecided between a hearing aid or a CI, that a hearing aid is a better choice? Which is actually the best choice, anyway? The best choice is the choice you have made!

— deafness is part of a lawsuit

A big mess is going on with lawsuits filed by angry ex-employees of the Old Orchard Beach town government. The fired director of the town Public Works department is deaf. He has accused the fired town manager of mocking his deafness, making things uncomfortable at the workplace. How bad are these lawsuits? It is now in the courts because the Maine Human Rights Commission failed to make everyone happy. These lawsuits has involved several issues; the mocking of deafness is one of these issues!

— not able to meet deaf family members

A deaf woman learned that two of her cousins were deaf. She has never met them. Why? The deaf woman’s grandfather and the two cousins’ grandfather (both brothers) have feuded with each other for a real long time and do not speak to each other. The deaf woman has wondered if these two deaf cousins are aware that they have a deaf cousin!

Simoné Botha, a deaf dancer from South Africa, has wona big dancing role – the Queen at the Ballet. Thisdance show is widely popular among music lovers allover the world. She has been dancing all her lifeand in fact, won a past Miss Deaf South Africa pageant.She had to audition for this big dance role. Afterwatching her audition, the program director immediatelygave her the role.

— American Airlines insults the deaf

American Airlines, at the Houston Airport, misplacedthe luggage that belonged to a deaf couple. They hadto wait a few days before the lost luggage was foundand delivered to their home. The note, attached tothe luggage said, Deaf and Dumb. The couple is veryangry about it and has demanded an apology fromAmerican Airlines. To date, the airline people havenot apologized!

— Italy ignores sign language

Hearing people gesture all the time in Italy. It isan important part of their culture. Scholars IsabellaPoggi of Roma Tre University and Luca Vullo, a filmdirector, have documented these gestures for theirprojects. What about Italian Sign Language (Lingua DeiSegni Italiana – or LIS)? Pretty much ignored bylinguists and researchers. Deaf Italians are not toohappy about it. It is possibly because they do nothave a Dr Bill Stokoe, Father of ASL, in their corner!

Actor David Dontoh, not deaf and well known in Ghana,gave a speech saying it is important for all actors toshow gestures and facial expressions – for the benefitof deaf people that watch TV programs. Even if the programis captioned, these gestures and facial expressions arestill important! Oral deaf may not understand sign langaugebut they understand gestures and facial expressions.

— an expensive lawsuit case for a school district

Grandview School District, in Washington state, has alreadyspent $1.9 million in legal fees, defending themselvesin a lawsuit filed by a parent of a deaf child. Theparent has accused the school district of not providingeducation. This case has started 4 years ago in the districtcourt and is now headed towards the federal courts.Why not just accept a settlement? This school districtrefuses to settle and will continue to fight – and itmeans higher legal fees, making attorneys rich!

— deaf communications device for a police department

Dunwoody (Georgia) Police Department has a wirelesscommunications device that will be used to communicatewith the deaf. This is great but there are questions.What if the deaf driver is stopped because of a trafficviolation, and the police officer does not have the devicewith him? Will they have to wait until someone bringsthe device? Or will they have to go to the police station?Isn’t it much easier to contract with a VRI so thatthe deaf person could immediately communicate with theinterpreter on the police officer’s Skype? Police carsnowadays are equipped with all kinds of computers.

At Gallaudet on April 9, 2014 is the “GallaudetUniversity Pro Day – Adham Talaat.” He is 6’6tall and weighs nearly 300 lbs (solid muscle,not fat). For the past two seasons, many NFLteams asked Gallaudet about him; they haveseen him play; have tested him. April 9thwill be his final audition – hoping it wouldlead to a NFL draft when draft comes on May 8-10.If he is not drafted, then hope is high thathe would be offered a free agent contract. Eitherway he would be the first from Gallaudet to geta NFL contract. He was one of the main reasonsfor the greatest football team in Gallaudet history.

— a deaf person without interpreter in the court

A deaf man, accused of a crime in Texas, had nointerpreter. This was strange because Texas hasone of the best interpreting laws in the nation.His attorney never asked for an interpreter duringtrial. Should his attorney be disbarred for thatreason? Yes, according to a deaf attorney thatread about this case. Anyway he won an appealfor a re-trial because of no interpreter in firsttrial.

— a different Deaf Scam

Yesterday’s DeafDigest mentioned an email scam(Deaf Lottery). There is another scam – Craiglistscams! Craiglist is the world’s largest classifiedads web site for anything and for everything!Is Craiglist honest? Yes, for 99.9 percent of listings,it is honest. But a tiny number of ads are nothonest. A hearing man wanted to rent a house andsaw a listing on Craiglist. He contacted the person,but was told the person is deaf and must communicateby text or email, not in person and was told tosend money by wire. The “deaf” man was not deaf.It was a scam! Police is looking into this matterin South Carolina.

At The Amazing Race: All-Stars, deaf son Luke and hearingmother Margie were eliminated after finishing last placeat the Sri Lanka race. Said the eliminated team –We’re one of three teams to do The Amazing Race for athird time.

— good news for deaf victims of police brutality

we have been reading more and more about deaf victimsof police brutality. Is there some good news comingup? The American Civil Liberties Union, one of thenation’s most powerful non-profit agencies, is lookinginto this matter. They are building up a file of thesemany deaf police brutality cases. We will see whathappens.

— be careful of a deaf person from Ohio

Many of us have received “Deaf Lottery winnings” emails;it is a scam. How bad is it? According to the Westerville,Ohio Police Department, approximately 1,200 deaf peoplehave become victims of this scam, costing them money.The police believes the person behind the scam is deafand lives in Westerville and is well known in the DeafCommunity. If you receive this type of email, automaticallydelete it – do not even open it and read it. Just delete it!